Apple and Verizon spokesmen have declined to comment on a forthcoming Verizon iPhone. Still, if Verizon is really rolling out an iPhone next year, they will have the perfect opportunity to do it. According to Bloomberg, Verizon is expected to unveil several new 4G smartphones – each of which will run on Verizon's new 4G network – at the Consumer Electronics Show in January. And what device better to unveil than a shiny new Verizon iPhone?

Meanwhile, at least one analyst has predicted that a T-Mobile iPhone will hit long before a Verizon counterpart. In a report released on June 9, Shawn Wu, an analyst with a firm called Kaufman Bros., said a T-Mobile iPhone "closer to reality than ever [and] could happen as early as this fall." Wu based his prediction on conversations with sources at suppliers and retail-stores across the country.

A Verizon iPhone would radically shake a market currently dominated by AT&T, which has long been deluged with complaints about the service on the iPhone. But here's a question: Would a Verizon iPhone suffer from the dreaded death grip that currently afflicts AT&T-powered iPhones? We'll leave the speculation up to you. Drop us a line in the comments section.